A flaneur's lament for the sidewalk, by Christopher Hume (Toronto Star) - The Diigo Meta page

• 06 May 08
  

  Yule Heibel

  Together with 2 other articles (Apr.26 and May 3), a nice trilogy in praise of walking and pedestrian rights.

  thestar flaneur pedestrians infrastructure christopher_hume toronto

  • If only people were cars, maybe then we could get the city to take our sidewalks seriously.
  • In addition to the decayed state of city sidewalks, many are too narrow to begin with. And given the city's love of widening roads whenever possible, that makes for a dangerous combination.
  • 6 more annotations...
  • • Have we forgotten the importance of sidewalks? Did we ever know?
    • They are an essential element of the public realm, not, as we have come to believe, simply a way of getting from A to B. Indeed, they are an irreducible part of the urban fabric.
    • Sidewalks are stage sets, backdrops and seating areas all in one. They are the very place where urban life occurs. Without them, a city can't be a city.
    • That's why so much more than broken ankles is at stake when they are allowed to deteriorate. Urbanity depends on sidewalks.

    • Fleet St., Lake Shore Blvd. and around the Rogers Centre. These islands of condos separated by six-lane highways are hostile, even dangerous, for walkers. Pedestrians are definitely not welcome here; they get in the way of drivers, who are always in a hurry.

      This is not how to build a city. This is how to destroy a city.

    • "Having adequate space and lots of sunshine means a lot psychologically," Brown insists. "But what we're getting is suburban dimensions infiltrating the city. Traffic lanes in an urban condition need be no more than 3.1 metres, that's about 10 feet. On a highway where you have greater speed, lane widths have to increase. But engineers are used to working on an average, a standard. You need to approach things more finely, taking what you can find here and there."

      • 

        Yule Heibel on 2008-05-06

        - this idea that road engineers use the same rule in urban & suburban settings for arterials, secondaries, etc., reminds me of Andres Duany's critique, and how the transect should be used to contextualize what's needed.

Public Stiky Notes

• 
  Yule Heibel on 2008-05-06
  - this idea that road engineers use the same rule in urban & suburban settings for arterials, secondaries, etc., reminds me of Andres Duany's critique, and how the transect should be used to contextualize what's needed.

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